Friday, November 13, 2009

Ronn Foss's Alter Ego

From the early days of comics fandom, ALTER EGO #5, 1962, produced by editor/publisher Ronn Foss.

Foss was very important in the early days of fandom. With his friend, Richard "Grass" Green, they took over THE COMICOLLECTOR from Jerry Bails, and then Ronn took over ALTER EGO. Both Foss and Green were artists who at the time appeared to be poised for professional careers.

The Ed Lahmann article on collecting caused some controversy with his advice, "you just need one of these" when describing a run of a particular comic. Since many--or most--comic collectors fall into the obsessive/compulsive category, it's anathema to a trufan to collect "only" one of a run of anything.

Ronn and Drury Moroz created a Dr. Mid-Nite styled hero with the Eclipse. This seems very much of the Comics Code era to me, even published in a venue free of Code restrictions. Ronn Foss is now deceased. Others of the BNF's (Big Name Fans) in this issue are also now gone: Biljo White, Ron Haydock and Dr. Jerry Bails.